Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Brighton's Interactive Cycle Map

Brighton and Hove Council has released an interactive Brighton Cycle Map. It would be churlish to ask why cyclists would need a map to know where the city's two bike lanes are. Instead I'd like to applaud the city for their efforts in creating the map, which at least highlights how much effort the city needs to put in to make Brighton a cycling friendly city.

The map does include important locations for cyclists in Brighton, such as bike carrying bus stops, cycle parking and bike shops. I also like the landmark icons on the map, which become much more apparent as you zoom-in on the map.

Overall however I think the design of the map is a little confusing. The use of two different shades of blue for showing roads and building footprints makes it more difficult than it should be to read the map. I also think that using a dashed line to show off-road cycle tracks is a huge mistake, especially when the city's provision of off-road cycle tracks is so patchy. It is hard to tell if the breaks in the dashed lines are just the breaks in the dashed line or locations in the city where there are gaps in the cycle track.